Blackstone TL1 blown drivers

ZvexFan

Two month old system has two blown front drivers. I was initially really impressed with the system but am now disappointed that the system needs service already. Also disappointed that there are no support options outside of normal business hours. Polks competitor Bose has much longer support hours up to and including Saturday. I will be investing my hard earned money elsewhere (Bose) when I'm ready to buy a new system due to these issues. I'm certainly glad the system carries a five year warranty as I'm assuming they will need servicing at regular intervals.

F1nut

You need to figure out why the drivers blew first because they just don't die on their own. Did you have the volume at an extremely high level? What are you using for power? Provide as many details as possible.

As for Polk's customer service, it is second to none, so how about chilling out a bit.

BTW, Bose products are no where near the build or sound quality of Polk....why did you even go there!?!

heiney9

Bose products sound terrible. Polk products and customer service is just about the best there is, Bose, not so much. Just because they have longer hours doesn't mean they have better service. Their service is fairly slow.

What abuse did you put these speakers through? I have owned a lot of speakers over the past 30+ years, many Polks and I have never had to replace a blown driver. Why? Because I don't abuse my gear by playing it too loud or clipping my power source.

H9

thsmith

Sounds like a troll Jesse, don't waste your time. Sounds like he had regrets buying PA as he could not afford Bose and never even gave PA CS a chance.

[Deleted User]

Hello ZvexFan,
Sorry you're having a problem. All you need to do is package up the two satellites and send them to: Polk Audio Factory Service, 1 Viper Way, Vista, CA. 92081. Please include a short note giving them your name, address, daytime telephone number and a copy of your sales receipt. The service department will quickly repair your speakers and send them back at no charge.
Regards, Ken

ZvexFan

I'm not sure why they blew. I have a new Yamaha receiver paired with the speakers. I have certainly turned up the volume while watching a movie or listening to music but have never thought it was too loud. I've never heard any distortion or clipping from any of the speakers. The system sounds incredible at higher volumes. Is there a break in time? Can I turn them up loud without worrying about damaging the speakers? I've always thought that as long as there is no distortion or clipping that the volume level is ok. I've played guitar for many years and have subjected my speaker cabinets to some serious volume and have had speakers fail after many years of that type of abuse, not two months worth. I'm sorry for being so frustrated and venting on a forum. Maybe ignorance. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about or how to treat things. Any help figuring out why this happened would be great. I'll figure out a time when I can get the speakers sent out for service. Again, sorry for my frustration.

[Deleted User]

Hello,
One of the things to consider is how you have your system setup. Can you describe how you have connected the satellites and subwoofer, in terms of adjustments on the Yamaha? It is possible some changes in the Yamaha's filtering can prevent any further problems.
Ken

F1nut

ZvexFan,

Ok, let's move on and figure out what happened. In addition to Ken's questions, at what volume level did you have the Yamaha when this happened?

Is there a break in time?

Yes, but after 2 months they are broken in, so that's not the problem.

Can I turn them up loud without worrying about damaging the speakers?

Keep in mind that everything has a limit, so within the limits of your AVR and speakers, yes you can turn them up, but too far and bad juju will happen.

I've always thought that as long as there is no distortion or clipping that the volume level is ok.

That threshold is easy to cross....quickly. Think transients.

dudeinaroom

Ken, you rock.

[Deleted User]

As Eek, the cat says, "It never hurts to help".

ZvexFan

The speakers are setup in a 5.1 configuration. I let the receiver set the levels with Yamahas YPAO mic. I then turned up the rear speakers +2db as they seemed quiet. The front speakers and the center are at 0db. The subwoofer was set to +6.5db after the initial setup which seemed a bit high so that was lowered to +3db with the sub volume at 50%. Yamaha recommends setting the sub to 50% when performing the initial setup with the provided mic. I have the system set to straight which is typically ends up being Dolby Digital. I don't use any sound enhancement settings that the receiver offers. When the speakers blew I was playing Fruit Ninja of all things with the volume setting at approximately -10db. The system goes to +16.5db so it wasn't really close to being full volume. I don't feel as though that volume is enough to blow a speaker. As I said before I have all sorts of audio equipment that I have pushed to it's limits without fail in most cases. I've had two high end car stereos which I will readily admit I abused that had/have no issues. I've had a sony surround sound system for 6 years that was used with my old TV that I will admit I abused and have had no issues (those speakers are currently in place of the blown Polk satellites.) Plus Fender, Marshall, Egnater and Clark guitar amps that I still regularly turn to 10 to take advantage of the great tube distortion they offer. Speaking from a guitar amp standpoint, I have blown one driver in my 4x12 Marshall cabinet that's rated at 100 watts. The cabinet has 4x25 watt speakers and I was using a 100 watt Marshall amp that was at full volume. Understandably so. That being said, I wonder what the output of the Yamaha receiver (Model RX-V471) is and what the Blackstone speakers are rated at. Maybe the amp is to powerful for the speakers.

ZvexFan

Here is a link the the specs of the receiver. http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/av-receivers-amps/rx/rx-v471_black__u/

ZvexFan

So the receiver puts out a maximum of 110 watts. The speakers are rated at 100 watts. Is that the issue? If I never had the system to maximum volume should it be an issue?

tonyb

I'm gonna take a stab at this and suggest maybe your playing them too loud. Keep in mind a receiver reaches it's max output way before the volume dial tops out. How big of a room are we talking here btw.? Volume is always an issue, certain gear is only designed to play so loud in a given space with x amount of power. For instance, if you buy small speakers and put them in a large room, to fill that room with sound your more than likely cranking up the volume dial. In 5 channel surround, a 100 watt receiver is probably down to around 70 watts, yes the more speakers you have the less power they all get. Now if you crank on that volume to -10, which is getting into the danger zone in my opinion, depending on the type of music you are playing, you could be clipping that receiver thus blowing a speaker. Distortion is a killer of speakers, and played loud enough, can easily become a problem for even the most capable speakers. Most entry level receivers start to distort way before you bottom out that volume dial, which you should not even come close to doing that if you value your investment. There is no such thing as an amp being too powerfull. I think your trying to force too much volume from smaller speakers in a given space.
Just my opinion and I could be wrong, trying to read between the lines here. I see Ken has you taken care of, but as a suggestion, if loud is your thing, maybe look at something that can play loud better than a small sat speaker. ....and maybe get an amp to boot.

Topper

what was the crossover point set? (You selected 'small' for all the speakers right? does your receiver give you a choice for which point exactly to set?)

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the information, ZvexFan,
There is a built in high pass filter, in the TL1, that prevents it from producing very much bass below 100Hz. But it is possible that for your application it might not be enough to prevent overdriving the mid range drivers. If possible see if the Yamaha can be set up with the front and center set to "small", which only means it is using a high pass filter to eliminate low frequencies from reaching the speaker. I get the impression you are an attentive listener and appreciate well played audio. What you want to listen for is when the upper bass and mid range sounds begin to loose control and no longer have a "tightness" or well defined quality. This is called "cone breakup" and means the driver is being overdriven. In any moving coil type driver as the cone moves forward and backward close to it's limits the voice coil is no longer in the strongest part of the magnetic field produced by the magnet. The cone tends to overextend itself and is no longer accurately following the beginning, middle and end of the changing audio signal.
Anyway, send the speakers to Polk and they'll get them in perfect shape and continue to enjoy your system!
Cheers, Ken

ZvexFan

Thanks for all the information everyone. The speaker configuration for all speakers is set to small. Ken, I think I've heard that type of breakup before. In fact I'm certain of it. I don't recall ever hearing that come from these speakers. I've really been impressed with the tight and crisp tones from the system. I'm thinking back to the time when I experienced the issue and I'm questioning the Fruit Ninja game. The volume of the game when slicing is pretty low compared to when the game finishes. There's a pretty dramatic sequence of sounds just before the game gives you your total points. I bet it was at that point that the speakers were pushed to their limit. Like F1nut said, transients. Well, I will have the speakers repaired and re think how I use my system. Thanks for everyones patience with me and I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.

F1nut

Thanks for giving us the chance to help.